Here’s a fun hiking accessory that will keep kids moving and exploring on the hiking trail. Try this activity when you want to get kids outdoors in the spring. These dandelion hiking sticks are super easy to make and look beautiful when complete!
You can make the hiking stick in your own backyard or on the trail, while you are hiking. I suggest picking dandelions only if you see an abundance of them to ensure there are enough left for the bees! Dandelions are the bees’ first food so it’s important to leave a bunch for them. We don’t spray our yard, so we have hundreds of them pop up during spring. We like to make these hiking sticks in our yard and then take them around the neighborhood for our evening walks.
Ready to make a one!? Here’s what you’ll need..
Supplies:
- Dandelions
- Hiking Stick
- Double-sided tape
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Here’s How We Made Them:
Step 1:
Head outside and search for a hiking stick. We tried this activity on several hiking sticks, and found the double-sided tape stuck best on smooth hiking sticks. We had one hiking stick with a lot of lichen on it and it still worked but it took a bit more effort to get the tape to stick. All of our hiking sticks were very dry, which I think helped the tape stick as well.
We took about 3, 10 inch strips of the double-sided tape and wrapped them around each hiking stick in a spiral design, then pressed the tape pretty hard to help it stick.
Step 2:
Now stick the dandelions to the hiking stick! I suggest picking dandelions after a couple of dry days so they aren’t wet. This will obviously help them stick better to the tape.
We popped the dandelion heads off and put them right on the tape. We had a couple of fussy dandelions that didn’t want to stick, but overall they stuck to the tape nicely.
They also make a cute decoration for the yard! The dandelions will look great for about 6-7 hours and then start to dry and wilt a bit.
You might loose a couple of dandelions if you drop the hiking stick, but you can just stick them back on. I was going to try a hot glue gun, but I think the tape makes this more child friendly and you can take the dandelions and tape off when you are finished and try making a different hiking stick!
Pin it and save it for later!
I hope you give this simple nature activity a try! I promise, your little nature lovers will love it as much as my boys.
∼Tara
